OpenBSD Journal

Call for Nominations for the 2003 FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software

Contributed by jose on from the give-theo-an-award dept.

Ray writes: " http://www.gnu.org/award/2003/2003-call.html

"The FSF and the GNU project request nominations for the 2003 FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software. We want to give this award to a person who has made a great contribution to the progress and development of Free Software (free as in freedom as defined in the Free Software Definition), through activities that accord with the spirit of software freedom.

"Any kind of activity could be eligible -- writing software, writing documentation, publishing CDs, even journalism -- but whatever the activity, we want to recognize long-term central contributions to the development of the world of software freedom. "Accord with the spirit" means, for example, that software, manuals or collections of them (online or on CD) must be entirely Free. Work done commercially is eligible, but we give this award to individuals, not to companies, organizations, or teams.

"Please send your nominations to , on or before Friday 31 October 2003. Please submit nominations in the following format:

  • Put the name of the person you are nominating in the email message subject line.
  • Please include, in the body of your message, an explanation (40 lines or less) of the work the person has done and why you think it is especially important to software freedom.
  • Please state, in the body of your message, where to find the materials (e.g., software, manuals, or writing) which your nomination is based on.
"Copyright (C) 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA

"Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved."

I will personally nominate Theo de Raadt for relentlessly ousting software with bad licenses from OpenBSD, no compromises, allowing anyone to do anything to OpenBSD."

That sounds like a good idea, actually ...

(Comments are closed)


Comments
  1. By Anonymous Coward () on

    sounds like a good idea, he has my vote

    Comments
    1. By Christopher () on

      Looks like Theo was a finalist last year

      http://www.gnu.org/award/2002/2002.html

    2. By pete g () on


      "sounds like a good idea, he has my vote"

      no, he doesn't; sorry, but you're not on the panel.

  2. By bob () on

    Live and let live. Why are you guys trying to go and piss on another person's parade? The OpenBSD community is full of a bunch of zealots who behave like teenagers.

    Comments
    1. By Ulysses () on

      what does that have to do with this?

    2. By Jim () on

      Humor is very difficult to see in writing. However statements like "The OpenBSD community is full of a bunch of zealots who behave like teenagers." are obviously meant to cause hard feelings. I find it sad that the people who post here are beginning to sound like rejects from slashdot. I guess I was (naively) expecting something more professional from the people who use OpenBSD and this forum.

      There has been a lot of aggression shared through this portal lately, and I (for one) find it terribly disturbing. I do not believe that everyone should think alike or blindly agree, however constructive criticism is infinitely better than childish remarks like the one from "bob".

      I plead with the community of OpenBSD users who read and post to this forum to start acting like adults and treat people with respect, even if you disagree with them.

      Comments
      1. By Michael () on

        Agreed.

      2. By Anonymous Coward () on

        You don't have to be an openbsd user to post here. Alot of the bullshit has come from slashdot rejects that just want to piss people off cause they have nothing to do. How about pleading to everyone in general, not just openbsd users?

      3. By Oliver Neubauer () on

        I heartily agree. And your plea is well met. I personally don't like reading stupid inflammatory comments either----I prefer the non-stupid variety.

        However, I find another trend even more disturbing. Let's not forget a bit of depressingly passe idealism here: the Internet is (okay, should/could have been) about free speech. Yeah, I know that's naive and I know that statements like that were a Usenet staple of wonderful naivete from the beginning blahblah...
        ...but how many of you felt cheated when the comments here were turned off recently? I know I did.
        How many other forums have been castrated by policy meant to stop idiots? How many of those still have idiots, regardless?

        I say: let the morons spout. The analogy in the comments moratorium announcement made mention of wine and sewage, and it was accurate, in a limited sense. But realize the truth: there can be no "wine" on any forum on the Internet. There are too many idiots out there. Get over it, already.

        I would suggest another analogy: The internet is a vast polluted ocean with hidden treasures amidst the flotsam and corporate oil slicks. It helps transport humanity by the very nature of it's existence to otherwise inaccessible places despite the fact that it's a horrible, stinking mess. Its successful navigators are those who avoid its inevitable and prolific hazards, not stand by them shouting "Awww, look at this crap!", or worse, those who make policy such that portions are off-limits to protect others and themselves from wading through it every day.

        Okay, mine falls apart too, but I think you get the point. :)

        And ultimately, like bob and yourself, this is just my $0.02...I mean, I agree with you, but lighten up.

      4. By bob () on

        It's hardly an attempt to cause "hard feelings" but more of one expressing my distaste for the kind of crap that I read here. Contrary to your assumptions, I do not regularly post to either slashdot or this site. It must have been 6 months from when I posted here last.

        You and I share more in opinion than you will likely believe. I made two mistakes in the manner I posted earlier. Firstly, I assumed that the type of comments I read here are a good representation of most visitors here. I held this opinion because the article texts seemed only moderately more considerate than the postings. Secondly I spoke too quickly without thought of phrasing my opinions to be more effective.

    3. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Nobody is pissing on anything, what is your problem?

    4. By Niels () on

      Firstly, when this is your view on the OpenBSD community why are you here?
      Secondly, 'another person's parade' may well be a very respectable parade, but if the parade has a policy on the way it is shared (or not) with others, which conflicts with the policy of the city (OpenBSD) it is held at, then there is a problem. Some cities might go for the tourists and bent the policy a bit, while others remain more principle on this matter and ban the parade from the city.
      Bottomline, this is not a discussion on parades, but rather on policies and principles.
      I for one prefer principles, but then again that just might be the reason why I live in this city;)
      If you want parades you might want to move.

      Comments
      1. By bob () on

        My opinion of the community took time to mature.
        I arrived at this conclusion after reading numerous threads on this site. The last portage one through me off the top because I found not only the posters to be bigoted but the articles text seem to have a pretty negative bent.

        I am really proud of any effort to maintain high quality software. OpenBSD is great because it is one of the few projects that use software engineering methodologies (wether they are willing to admit it or not). I also like the fact that OpenBSD is more cohesive since it's created by a tight group of people. The eletist attitude is what annoys me, especially when it comes from people who obvious have little to do with OpenBSD's creation.

        The whole point as to wether or not Theo should be a recommended candidate is absolute moot. The Free Software Foundation has an agenda! I don't agree with their agenda; yet I at least respect it enough to recognize that promoting someone who is in opposition to them at their own event is very poor taste.

        Comments
        1. By Anonymous Coward () on

          OK. This needs a reply.
          First of all you made it clear that your problem is with the persons posting on this forum, not with OpenBSD. Secondly your problem is that these persons are part of the OpenBSD community. Apparently your answer is to come up with a definition of a community being people that create OpenBSD, i.e. provide sourcecode, excluding as you call them 'zealots' "that have little to do with OpenBSD's creation". Now I have no intention to go argue on definitions, and I have no problem being excluded from the OpenBSD community in this manner, but I do think that a lot of people will have a different view on what makes a 'community'. So don't be suprised to keep finding non-coding zealots here. Personally I try to give back by providing some help if I can on the comp.unix.bsd.openbsd.misc newsgroup and personally I regard the people there, among which also a lot of non-coding people, a part of the OpenBSD community aswell.

          Thirdly, being accused of 'eletist attitude' puzzles me, because I couldn't find any remark in my posting indicating 'better', 'superior', 'elite' or anything else supporting this statement. I did say I liked the 'city', i.e. OpenBSD, but what is eletistic about that?

          Finally the impression I'm getting from your posts is that you get annoid easily. Calling a nomination of Theo for the 2003 FSF award a matter of poor taste is beyond me. Sure there are different opinions, sure Theo isn't a likely winner, but come on, how much harm is done with a nomination? To me it's just some people making clear they appreciate the work and principles of Theo and although the FSF doesn't share these principles and even had arguments with Theo (or maybe the other way around) I don't think that they will, or at least should, be distressed by people showing their appreciation for the efforts someone made to establish and share free software. Especially not so when the award inclusion criteria are as broad as they are.

          My 2c: cheer up and keep posting.

          However, if getting annoid is inevitable I restate my opening question of my first posting: Why are you here?
          In this case don't agonize yourself and everyone else here.

          Niels

    5. By Ray () on

      I am dead serious. Theo is a prime example of a promoter of free software. This has nothing to do with OpenBSD; it has everything to do with what he does, as leader of a large open source project.

      Now, this other person's parade is not limited to those who are GNU supporters or whatever. They are requesting for people with "long-term central contributions to the development of the world of software freedom." How does Theo not fit the bill?

      Comments
      1. By bob () on

        I hardly support GNU. I'm expressing my negative view of this communities behavior so it will be more considerate and rational. The important thing to realize is that "software freedom" is being used by their definition which is in contradiction with OpenBSD own views of software freedom. The event is clearly marked as a GNU one; so why should we aggrevate the differences. They are not trying to represent the whole world of software with available source code.

        Comments
        1. By Anonymous Coward () on

          The BSD license counts as free software according to GNU. Also, Theo has been nominated at least once in previous years, and has been a finalist.

          Please research some more...

    6. By Anonymous Coward () on

      I do not behave like a teenager! You spelled "you're" wrong. So there.

  3. By Anonymous Coward () on

    Not ousting... but fixing.

    Theo has posed many times a list of 30-some packages that the team has gotten license clarification for.

    This is what he should be nominated for.

    Comments
    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      http://www.deadly.org/commentSubmit.php3?sid=20030924123724&pid=65

  4. By Anonymous Coward () on

    nnly if his attitude is more friendly ;-)

    Comments
    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Theo's an orignal..! :)

      btw.. where did he get this fuckin name from? (no offense intended!)

  5. By Anonymous Coward () on

    Like some of you suggest it is

    After all, Theo was one of the three finalists for _last year's_ award....

  6. By Brian Hershey () brian at socketsentry dot net on mailto:brian at socketsentry dot net

    As much as I'd LIKE a native port of OpenOffice,
    (complete with JDK)
    I'm glad Theo's staunch stance on non-free software in the ports tree quarantees no subpoenas from the likes of SCO...

    MORAL:just because you want it, doesn't mean it's good for you.

    Comments
    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Well, to be fair, I'm not sure anything short of the apocalypse guarantees no subpoenas from SCO

  7. By mirabile () mirabile@bsdcow.net on https://MirBSD.BSDadvocacy.org:8890/

    I've actually done that for real. I nominated
    Theo de Raadt last year.

    They didn't even _bother_ to answer.

    Comments
    1. By Brian Hershey () brian at socketsentry dot net on mailto:brian at socketsentry dot net

      I voted yesterday. Not even an autoresponder reply....
      (I don't think there's anybody back there...)

      ;(

      Comments
      1. By pete g () on


        "I voted yesterday. Not even an autoresponder reply...."

        you can't vote; the decision is made by a panel, not by a popular vote. all you can do is nominate someone. once they're nominated, futher nominations are redundant.

        Comments
        1. By brian () on

          you're absolutely correct. I voted (redundantly) to have Theo nominated.

          I sincerely apologize.
          I shall now go flog myself. (repeatedly)

          :)

  8. By Chutzpah () chutzpah@videotron.ca on mailto:chutzpah@videotron.ca

    I sincerely hope this is sarcastic, RMS (Richard M. Stallman) the leader of the FSF does not believe that the BSD liscense is free software, Theo and RMS fundamentally disagree on what constitutes free software.
    (I am not taking sides here, I'm just pointing out that the FSF will not be giving any OpenBSD, or any other *BSD developers awards anytime soon).

    Comments
    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      The best thing to do is to nominate BSD devs then we will know if this is true.

    2. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Either you are just stupid or incapable to read. RMS had. IMHO justified, disagreements with the advertising clause. AFAIK this is no longer used and BSD-without-advertising-clause has always been free in the GNU sense.

    3. By Anonymous Coward () on

      RMS does believe that anything under the BSD license is free software.

      His only problem with it is that is that derivitive works can be non-free.

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